Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE)

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 29,697 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 46% compared to the average daily volume of 20,307 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SPCE has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $2.30 target price on Virgin Galactic and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Virgin Galactic in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Susquehanna set a $3.50 price target on shares of Virgin Galactic in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Virgin Galactic in a research note on Friday, November 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $4.20.

Virgin Galactic Stock Up 4.5%

NYSE:SPCE traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $3.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,095,638 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,256,608. Virgin Galactic has a 52-week low of $2.18 and a 52-week high of $6.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.27 million, a P/E ratio of -0.43 and a beta of 2.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $3.49 and a 200-day moving average of $3.51.

Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.51) by $0.42. The business had revenue of $0.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.32 million. Virgin Galactic had a negative return on equity of 108.00% and a negative net margin of 17,615.71%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Virgin Galactic will post -16.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Virgin Galactic during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Virgin Galactic during the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new stake in shares of Virgin Galactic during the third quarter worth $42,000. PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Virgin Galactic in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Pitcairn Co. purchased a new position in Virgin Galactic in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. 46.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc (NYSE: SPCE) is a commercial spaceflight company developing and operating spacecraft for private individuals and research customers. The firm’s primary business is suborbital human spaceflight, offering passengers a brief trip to the edge of space aboard its reusable spaceplane. In parallel, the company is building out infrastructure and support services for suborbital payload deployments and microgravity research missions.

The core flight system consists of a carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo, which lifts the spaceplane SpaceShipTwo to high altitude before release.